Kw'adza

Kw'adza
Spoken in	Tanzania
speaker	0 (last speaker died in the 1980s)
Linguistic classification	Afro-Asian languages Cushitic languages South Cushite languages Rift languages East Rift Kw'adza
Language codes
ISO 639 -1	-
ISO 639 -2	-
ISO 639-3	wka

Kw'adza (also known as Qwadza , Ng'omvia, and Ngomvya ) was a South Cushitic language and is now extinct . The last speaker likely died in the 1980s.

classification

Kwʼadza is inadequately documented and its classification is therefore not clear, although it can be assumed that it is close to Aasáx . Although it has a large number of identifiable Kushitic roots, the non-Cushitic numbers itame 'one' and beʼa ~ mbɛa 'two' indicate a connection with Hadza , while haka 'four' suggests a connection with Sandawe . It is possible that Kwʼadza z. B. borrowed "four" from Sandawe, but also that it was a non-Cushitic language, the speakers of which went through a language change to Cushitic.

Phonology

The phonology is not entirely clear, but the following has been suggested (Ehret 1980):

m	n		ɲ	ŋ
b	d			ɡ	ɡʷ
p	t			k	kʷ	ʔ
	ts'	tɬʼ	tʃʼ	k '	kʼʷ
f	s	ɬ		x	xʷ	H
β̞	dz	l	j

/ ɡ / and / l / have theallophones [dʒ] and [ɽ] in front of fronttongue vowels. / tʃʼ / is 'medium'ejective. After Ehret, / kʼ / and / kʼʷ / are voiced [ɡ, ɡʷ] if the preceding consonant is voiced.

The vowels are / aeiou / .

literature

• Christopher Ehret, 1980. "Kwʼadza vocabulary"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Kw'adza | Ethnologue